What would a presidential campaign be without the staging of its divisions or its reconciliations? In the aftermath of the remote duel between the candidate of the National Rally, Marine Le Pen, and the far-right polemicist Eric Zemmour, both meeting in Reims and Lille on Saturday February 5, the presidential majority worked to reaffirm its message of unity behind Emmanuel Macron.
The event had a name: “Let’s write tomorrow with you”. An afternoon of debates broadcast by videoconference, Sunday, February 6, around four round tables led by the leaders of Together citizens!. One after the other, Richard Ferrand, the President of the National Assembly, François Bayrou, the President of the MoDem and High Commissioner for Planning, Stanislas Guerini, the General Delegate of La République en Marche (LRM), and the ex-Prime Minister Edouard Philippe took turns for four hours, each time surrounded by two experts and a minister.
Link between science and democracy, modernization of the State and public services, industrial reconquest and national identity, work and ecological revolution… No programmatic axes here for the future candidate Macron, but “reflective workshops”, we specify. However, impatience peaks in Macronie. The seminar organized at the request of François Bayrou is part of the animation of a pre-campaign which drags on on the side of the majority, in the absence of declared candidate and project. “All the other political families are tearing each other apart, insulting each other, anathematizing each other. It is good that we have decided on a unitary approach which is interested in the substance and not an approach of detestation, including of our adversaries. (…) [C’]is a small signal, assured, Sunday, François Bayrou.
While very few concrete proposals were made during these four hours of exchanges, between satisfaction with the presidential record and the desire for continuity with the reforms carried out over the past five years, the event was above all intended to defuse rumours, in part founded, of exacerbated tensions between the leaders of the majority at the approach of the legislative elections. All anticipate difficult negotiations for the nominations of their candidates.
Merger prevented between Agir and Horizons
Last jolt in Macronie, the merger prevented between the center-right party Agir and Horizons, the formation of Edouard Philippe, on the orders of Mr. Macron. After formulating his withdrawal from the bodies of Together Citizens!, the mayor of Le Havre finally declared the incident « clos ». But some Macronist executives criticize the former Juppeist for “shine by his absence” in a campaign where the right and the far right violently attack Emmanuel Macron and his record. Friday, Mr. Philippe inaugurated the launch of the Le Havre committee of his party and its assembly of mayors, the next day, in Valenciennes. He took the opportunity to reaffirm his desire to see Mr. Macron re-elected. One who describes himself as “loyal and free” continues to ignore criticism of the ambiguity of its position.
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